Gluten Free BBQ Sauce

Lip-smackin' good. (Originally from The Garden of Vegan, p. 141.)

Here's the ingredients:

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
small can tomato paste
3 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder (you can cheat and add more)
1/2 tsp gf Worchestershire sauce (Lea&Perrins is good or you can make your own)

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat to boil while whisking. Turn down heat and simmer until desired thickness. Makes about 1 cup.

all ingredients in a small saucepan

All done! Yum-o-ramma!

Chickpea Toss

Easy, peasy. This is a quick and easy one. Tasty, nutritious, high fiber, inexpensive, filling.
From the cookbook The Garden of Vegan, p. 147.

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, about 14 hours, in about 4 cups water

After soaking, drain and rinse chickpeas. Place in a pot and cover with about 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until beans are soft, but not too mushy. This will take at least an hour, probably more like 2, so do this way in advance. You can even do this a day or 2 ahead.

soft, not mushy

Drain and rinse again.

1 small onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
cooked chickpeas
Sesame oil or olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 cup chopped olives of your choice (optional)

Get a large saute pan. Turn the heat to medium and add the oil. Let it heat up for a minute or so, then add the onion and garlic. Saute until onion is translucent.

hear the sizzle

Add chickpeas, salt, curry and olives (if using). Heat and stir.

In about 5 minutes, you're done!

Serve with rice of your choice and a vegetable. Makes enough for about 4-5 people.

Serving suggestions:
Note: you can use canned chickpeas instead of dried in this recipe. This will make it all that much quicker, BUT it will not taste as good. I find canned chickpeas to have an unfavorable taste, no matter what brand they are.

The book this recipe came from suggests serving with the following condiments. I find these work wonderfully well:

• flax oil
• Braggs Liquid Aminos
• Gomashio (see recipe below)

Also, if you have olive-lovers and olive-haters in the same household, you can leave out the olives and serve them on the side for each person to add to their own helping as they prefer.

Gomashio
1 cup raw sesame seeds
1-2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp kelp powder

In a small dry saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the sesame seeds, salt and kelp, stirring continually for 3-5 minutes, until seeds start to pop and brown. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Place in food processor and grind for 3 seconds (you don't want the seeds to become powdery, just lightly ground). Store in an air-tight container. Makes 1 cup.

Mac & Cheese from a Box

Yes, this is a recipe for the macaroni and cheese that you make from a boxed mix. We add our own flair.

any variety

1 box mac & cheese, any variety
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup 2% milk
garlic powder
1 cup frozen peas or frozen corn or a combination of both OR 1 small bunch of fresh broccoli, cut up
4 hot dogs cut into chunks OR the equivalent amount of meat of your choice, such as cooked chicken or beef, or sliced and fried sausage

Boil water and cook pasta per package directions.

according to package directions

After pasta is cooked but BEFORE DRAINING, place veggies in pot for two minutes. Also place hot dogs in pot at the same time, also for two minutes. If using other meats, wait and put in for last minute only, just to heat up.



cheese, milk, butter, veg

Drain pasta, veggies and meat.

While they are still in the colander, put butter, milk, cheese and garlic powder in pot and stir to mix and melt butter. Add pasta, veggies and meat back into pot and stir to thoroughly mix.

Serve in bowls and enjoy.

last 2 minutes, veg in

Vegetarian Option: Instead of meat, if you want a vegetarian version, you can use TVP. Take about 1/4 cup of TVP and put in a mug and cover with about and inch or two of boiling water. You can use the water from the pot the pasta is boiling in. Just take some of the boiling water out of the pot before adding the pasta and put in a separate container with the TVP. It will hydrate in about the length of time it takes to cook the pasta. Drain it on top of the pasta in the colander. Mix in with all the other ingredients in the pot.



butter, milk, cheese in pot

Flavor Options: Try different flavors and spices to change it up. For example, try some chili powder or a mixed flavoring like an Italian herb mix. Also try other flavoring mixes like the variety of Mrs. Dash products. Just don't use anything that's salty because most mac & cheese mixes are already quite salty.


stir and enjoy!